Her hand drifted onto my thigh. “Now you’re quiet. What are you thinking about?”
“Honestly? You, us.” I sent her a smoldering glance.
Her brow lifted. She set her mug down, fingers tracing the neckline of her ivory sweater, sliding lower. “I was hoping you were thinking about this.”
She brought it over her head and tossed it aside. The white satin underneath short-circuited my brain.
“Yeah,” I said, voice rough, moving in on her. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
Our kisses started slow, tasting the spices between us. The fire popped; snow whispered against the windows. Time stood still for us.
“Naked, Archer,” she whispered, voice low and sure.
Her jeans, her leg warmers, her panties—I didn’t stop peeling away the layers until I had her bare before me.
I tossed my clothes on top of her pile and fisted my length. She watched, hand disappearing between her thighs, moaning my name.The fire painted an amber glow on her body as she arched. Tempting candy for my eyes. I nearly lost my sanity before I ever touched her.
I sheathed myself in a condom. I wanted to show her how much this day meant to me. How grateful I was that she’d walked straight into my life and turned it upside down.
We adjusted until she was under me, skin to skin, the blankets like a secure nest beneath us.
Her pulse drummed, and I nipped and sucked there at her neck. I traveled the blueprint of her body I’d memorized, lingering to worship her nipples, then further down to the apex of her thighs.
I slid my fingers through her slick seam, finding her clit swollen and waiting for me. She gasped at my tongue flicks, her fingers threading my hair. Purrs and whimpers guided me exactly where to linger, or how fast to pace. She pulled me deeper, gyrating her hips, until I couldn’t breathe.
I kept her on that edge and lifted. My tongue melded with hers, letting her taste her arousal, in no hurry to reach the finish line.
“Need you, Archer. Now.” I waited until she begged on my lips, and when I finally slid my cock inside her, everything slowed. We’d been needy all the times before—fast, desperate, sneaking moments wherever we could—but tonight wasn’t that. Tonight was deliberate. Worshipful.
I laced our fingers above her head and kissed her like a promise. Each stroke into her hot, tight walls, long and dragging them out, became something more meaningful. A claiming ceremony to make her mine.
“You’re ruining me, Pen,” I rasped.
She met my eyes. “No, Arch. I’m rebuilding you. Brick by brick.”
I huffed a shaky laugh. “You’re the only woman who’s ever managed it.”
Her smile tilted, and she rolled her hips. Our pace shifted from slow burn to steady climb. She wrapped her legs around me, scoring my back with her nails. The muscles in her thighs trembled and pulled me closer until there was no space left to think, just feel.
Her hand glided between us, strumming her clit. My hand circled her neck, and I whispered in her ear, “Come with me, Penny. My Penny. My good girl.”
Her breath hitched, and the world funneled to the sound of her moans, the slide of our bodies with every thrust, her quickening pulse under my thumb.
When she broke, she shattered beautifully for me—her head thrown back, a scream of my name that tore through the quiet. I followed right after, grunting, buried deep, every muscle straining until the room went white behind my eyes.
For a few seconds, there was nothing but our breathing and the snap of the fire.
I pressed my forehead to hers. “Best Thanksgiving ever,” I managed, half-laughing.
She smiled drowsily. “We should probably send your friend Dax a thank-you card for his app matching us.”
“Noted,” I murmured. “Send him my eternal gratitude.”
I pulled her against me, spooning into the warmth of our makeshift bed, letting the world come back one slow beat at a time. I wanted to tell her everything crowding my chest—three words that felt too big to say.
But I didn’t.
Because Monday was coming. The office. Our secret hookups. Reality waiting.
